Introduction

10.1163/ej.9789004171657.i-248.10

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Chapter Summary

This introductory chapter presents an overview of the book, which looks at the journey of maps and images along the Silk Road to see how old ideas traveled and adapted themselves to new surroundings. The structure of the book mirrors the spatial division of the Silk Road network in three major areas - the Buddhist Road, the Mongol Road, and the Mediterranean Road. The book also takes into account the Islamic World where the Mongol and Mediterranean Roads met. The Buddhist Road connected India to China through the Pamir passes and the oases of the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts. Until the fifteenth century, the Mongol Road that superseded the Buddhist Road was maintained by Mongol states for their couriers and troops, as well as for the artists, scholars, and merchants they summoned to their separate courts. The Mediterranean Road connected the Islamic and Christian Worlds together.